Burgess trade was a conditional 7th rounder

conditional upon how many games Burgess was active for. Since it was none, the PATS don't owe the RAVENS squaduesch!!!

Every report I've read has indicated that MRI was negative on Vince and the injury isn't serious. Maybe he'l be out a week or two at the most. I think the Sands signing was cover because both Wright and Vince may be inactive for 1 week. That would leave the PATS desperate next Sunday.

Burgess trade was a conditional 7th rounder conditional upon how many games Burgess was active for. Since it was none, the PATS don't owe the RAVENS squaduesch!!! Every report I've read has indicated that MRI was negative on Vince and the injury isn't serious. Maybe he'l be out a week or two at the most. I think the Sands signing was cover because both Wright and Vince may be inactive for 1 week. That would leave the PATS desperate next Sunday.Posted by K-LITE

High ankle sprain. It should take 3-4 days to heal with a R.E.M. procedure. Wilfork might be a game time decision if all goes well. Without the procedure, Wilfork might be out for 2-4 weeks.

sands is here for depth, as it doesnt seem BB has much faith in brace just yet. pryor is ahead of him on the depth chart. and dont forget that big sey was never replaced by another interior lineman after he was traded. sands is a big guy with big potential, who knows maybe bill can tap into it. he's real ugly too, if anyone has seen his roster photo.

1 or 2 weeks from now Wilfork and Wright are better. They release TS and yet Prescott Burgess(PB) is still available as a free agent. They resign him (PB). PB then goes on to play some for the Patriots.

Do the conditions of the trade still come into play here even though they released him and resigned him? I am guessing the conditions stay in play for the season or teams would make conditional picks and release a guy and resign him as a loop hole to get around this.

burgess was here to scout the ravens. his job is done. sands is here for depth, as it doesnt seem BB has much faith in brace just yet. pryor is ahead of him on the depth chart. and dont forget that big sey was never replaced by another interior lineman after he was traded. sands is a big guy with big potential, who knows maybe bill can tap into it. he's real ugly too, if anyone has seen his roster photo.Posted by artielang

artie and ALL:

Never even heard of Terdell Sands 'til 15 minutes ago, but agreed with your analysis about "his potential"... Sands was drafted out of Chattanooga in 2001, but didn't, it appears get on a Starting Roster until 2003, seeing very limited action the first few years... BUT, according to his bio, this guy is getting better and better with time, each year. Also, Only 6 years of wear on his body is great... AND "big boy" is a freakin' understatement, Sands is 6'7 335 lbs, MUCH MORE of a physical prescence (skill besides) at Nose than Wilfork (who IS fantastic skill-wise, but has the overall height IMHO of a gap-splitter).

Sorry guys, not to gush here, BUT Pats haven't had as an intimidating body physically on the D-Line to center a D around since Ted Washington, who also wasn't the greatest of skilled players, but was a guy who's prescence of size alone ALWAYS it seemed needed 2-O-Lineman to account for him... I like this pick ALOT, agree that there's an excellent upside to him, and just hope this guy's as "hungry" as he looks...

Comment: Sands is a massive DT who is best utilized in a rotation basis. He does a good job occupying blocks inside and keeping linebackers free to fill from behind. He is tough to move off the line of scrimmage when he plays with leverage, but his pad level needs to be more consistent. He has limited speed and range outside his area and lacks overall quickness as a pass rusher.

I really like the upside to this. Obviously at worse it's a temporary plug till Wilfork is healthy again and I'm ok with that. I really get excited about the possibility of that maybe this guy just needs a good coach, considering since he was signed by the Raiders there has been 5 different head coaches. I can't imagine that makes it easy for a young player to really develop especially if he's in need of some skill coaching. Here he will have good coaching and a great team around him that can help his development.

I find it hard to believe that there was 6'7" giant DT out there who could play at a good level that every team has just been ignoring. Remember that Wilfork's size isn't what makes him great (he's smaller than many at this position) - it's his speed. He can really move for a DT and often makes tackles down the field. NFL offenses have plenty of plays they can run to get a round a giant in the middle who can't move.

To quote another poster, we need linemen who rely on more than just their size, their size, and ... their size.

I find it hard to believe that there was 6'7" giant DT out there who could play at a good level that every team has just been ignoring. Remember that Wilfork's size isn't what makes him great (he's smaller than many at this position) - it's his speed. He can really move for a DT and often makes tackles down the field. NFL offenses have plenty of plays they can run to get a round a giant in the middle who can't move. To quote another poster, we need linemen who rely on more than just their size, their size, and ... their size.Posted by themightypatriotz

Yes, mighty....nfl offenses have plays that can be used to avoid huge NT's playing roadblock and clogging up the middle; which played into the Pats' LB pursuit on sweeps and off-tackle plays when they had Ted Washington.

In Response to Re: Terrel Sands : Yes, mighty....nfl offenses have plays that can be used to avoid huge NT's playing roadblock and clogging up the middle; which played into the Pats' LB pursuit on sweeps and off-tackle plays when they had Ted Washington. It would be nice to have someone like that around again....Posted by Belenus555

You're right Bel, this guy is the next Ted Washington. It's a good thing Wilfork and Wright got hurt so we could sign him. Mmmm, that's good kool aid.

In Response to Re: Terrel Sands : artie and ALL : Never even heard of Terdell Sands 'til 15 minutes ago, but agreed with your analysis about "his potential"... Sands was drafted out of Chattanooga in 2001, but didn't, it appears get on a Starting Roster until 2003, seeing very limited action the first few years... BUT, according to his bio, this guy is getting better and better with time, each year. Also, Only 6 years of wear on his body is great... AND " big boy " is a freakin' understatement, Sands is 6'7 335 lbs , MUCH MORE of a physical prescence (skill besides) at Nose than Wilfork (who IS fantastic skill-wise, but has the overall height IMHO of a gap-splitter). Sorry guys, not to gush here, BUT Pats haven't had as an intimidating body physically on the D-Line to center a D around since Ted Washington, who also wasn't the greatest of skilled players, but was a guy who's prescence of size alone ALWAYS it seemed needed 2-O-Lineman to account for him... I like this pick ALOT, agree that there's an excellent upside to him, and just hope this guy's as "hungry" as he looks... He's already on the Roster given by Boston.com ... Here it is: http://boston.stats.com/fb/playerstats.asp?id=5691&team=17 Thoughts ANYONE ? Posted by LazarusintheSanatorium

If he is that good he would not have been sitting at home. There is some issue - maybe it is physical or maybe in his head, but guys this big and strong do not sit around at home for weeks at a time. If the Raiders, who are desperate for defensive lineman (see the R Seymour trade), cut him then he does not have "great upside". Sorry.

In Response to Re: Terrel Sands : If he is that good he would not have been sitting at home. There is some issue - maybe it is physical or maybe in his head, but guys this big and strong do not sit around at home for weeks at a time. If the Raiders, who are desperate for defensive lineman (see the R Seymour trade), cut him then he does not have "great upside". Sorry.Posted by One-If-By-Sea

One, Mighty and ALL:

First off, wasTerdell Sands "sitting at home" (I can't find this anywhere)... Second, Oakland has a bunch of young, healthy DTs on their squad/on practice squad that they're trying to develop-Ryan Buschotti, William Joseph, and a new guy, Desmond Bryant...Most of hem 6-6 300 something lb monsters...They can't keep ALL of them. BTW, Seymour, a 6-6 290 lb DE who might be utilized as a DT in Oakland (not sure), but either way, He's in no way a true nose tackle... And that "pad level" stuff on tall guys is just complete b.s....It is what you make of it: IS ANYONE saying Ty Warren or Julius Peppers (bad example with Peppers as a 4-3 pass-rushing end) can't fight off lineman and get under lineman (Alas that's NOT a true 3-4 NTs job to gap-split and spearhead into collapsing the pocket anyway, we want him to hold his ground and take up 2 O-Lineman)? Look, Just because a team has either vet cap issues, and/or has an abundance of D-Lineman, and/or has seen more "potential" in their young Interior lineman, doesn't mean Pats should completely sell a guy short...

I know I'm drinking the Kool-Aid here, but once more, I'd much rather have this guy, THIS year as a "conditional" opportunity than have the "potential" of some 7th rd rookie that we'd be stuck with no matter what and one who would take years to bring up to speed and whom wouldn't be making this squad deep in vets(and we probably wouldn't be getting the physical prescence, let alone the vet saviness of a 6'7 335 lb rookie, because in AT LEAST the past 2 Drafts I've followed, there's been a shortage of these freaks compared to previous drafts)... I'm not saying that this guys the "second coming" or anything, but I did see in the Jet's and Bill's game O-Lineman teeing of on Guyton (Falcons, playing "catch-up" score-wise really didn't have that running option as the game progressed), and I ALSO saw in those first couple games the passing lanes in the middle of the field wide-open for RBs, TEs, and slot guys, SO IF Sands can simply do what Ted Washington did during our Superbowl years by eating up an extra blocker through his sheer size and allow our young (and not very big) ILBs a clear shot at the RB making his way through the interior line rather than them getting killed by some mamouth offensive guard, and/or be a pillar in the way of the other Team's QB reads over what has been the wide-open passing lanes in middle of the field (hopefully putting those big mitts up too), I'm ALL for it...

Laz - Size alone doesn't eat up blockers. You have to have strength, mobility, and technique. A big guy who can't move and can't disengage from a block isn't much help, even on runs up the gut. If this guy were Ted Washington, he wouldn't be unsigned out there. And Oakland has had one of the worst run defenses in the league for years, if this guy and all those others you mentioned are such great run stuffers, what happened?